


Parker (Irondad)

by BookDragon64



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Irondad, Peter runs away, Protective Tony Stark, tony hurts peter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26635096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookDragon64/pseuds/BookDragon64
Summary: Peter is always trying his best to make Tony proud, but this time he takes things too far.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	1. Tony

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first time publishing any of my work. I know it's not the best word choice and grammar wise, but I really liked writing this story. The story changes perspective from Tony to Peter and starts in Tony's. I hope you enjoy!

I drove up to the kid’s house practically smoking with rage. 

He had gone out of his way to mess up the plan we had spent weeks perfecting to save the family that was the next target of the “DeathX'' as they called themselves. Still a stupid name if you ask me, but they were a whole heck of a lot tougher than they sound. 

The team had been tracking for months and we had an elaborate plan to stop them once and for all. They were the cause of over 150 recorded deaths in the past year and were extremely dangerous. I didn’t tell the kid about it because I knew he would not like it and would protest. A lot. And I couldn’t deal with both him and Cap who was already very against the plan. However, 3 days ago he walked into a private meeting by accident and heard the basics of the plan. He found out the rest of the plans from begging Cap because he’s way too nice and trusting that way. I scowled just thinking about it. 

The plan was to wait until they were busy carrying out their business of robbing and killing their next victims, then we would swoop in and intercept them in the middle of it. We had tried to stop them beforehand, but that plan… well, let's just say that it backfired miserably. 

This time however, we weren’t going to fail. The plan we had finally come up with involved the family possibly dying, but we would have caught them and would have stopped many more deaths to come. Cap protested and said something like “No man gets left behind” or something like that, I wasn’t really listening. Peter and the Cap think way too similarly for my liking, one is enough to deal with. 

Last night, the plan was set and laid out perfectly, but when we struck, the family was huddled in a corner completely alive, every one of them, and in the middle of the floor was a giant wiggling ball of spider webbing. 

We had taken the man back to HQ, but all we had managed to get out of him was that there were a whole heck of a lot more of them. I also figured out how 1 kid had managed to overtake the 4 assassins who had broken into the house that night. Between the man who had been captured and the family’s stories I figured out that Peter had apparently gone to their house mid afternoon to tell them there was going to be a break in at their house. And because he’s Spiderman, they believed him and had hidden safely in the basement while the kid hid on the ceiling to ambush them. The assassins were so surprised to see something fall on top of them from above, shooting webs in every direction that they fled except for one man who had gotten stuck in one of the webs. He had wrapped him up and left the family to watch over him and make sure he didn’t escape with a promise that help would arrive soon. It was such a stupid plan, if you could even call it a plan. So, so many things could have gone wrong. As soon as I had put together the whole story, it was late, but that didn’t stop me from driving to his apartment to give him a piece of my mind.

~~~

I got out of my car as soon as it pulled up in front of his apartment. I went inside without knocking and scared the shit out of May who was walking towards the door with her coat on and her purse in hand. She did a double take when she saw me coming into her apartment.

“Um, hi! Mr. Stark, we weren’t expecting you. I would have cancelled my meeting.” She stammered, still a little dazed, before gaining her composure and giving me a questioning look. 

“I’m just here to talk to Peter.” I said as smoothly as I could. “You don’t have to stick around if you have somewhere to be.”

She looked back and forth between the door and me before saying, “You sure you don’t need me to stay?”

I assured her as well as I could, being so mad I could spit venom at her nephew. She hurried out the door and I stormed to Peter’s room. 

I heard her drive away down the street as I marched into his room. He was sitting on his bed and seemed to be writing in a small notebook. He had a big smile on his face and he obviously was oblivious that I was in the doorway. 

I cleared my throat and he jumped, threw the book aside in surprise and looked up. His smile grew as he saw me, but melted at my expression. 

My anger burst forth in a tidal wave of yelling, “What the HELL were you thinking!” He jumped and gave me a startled, hurt look, but I kept going, “Completely ruining a mission and deliberately disobeying a direct order from me! You went in there even though I said specifically not to! You don’t know anything about putting together a plan and the one you created worked slightly out of pure luck and the stupidity of panicked people!” 

I was still shouting and Peter was withering under my stare. “I just thought-” 

He started, but I cut him off, “Do you think I give a damn about what you think right now?! There are now 3 more maniacs out there who are going to commit more crimes because you let them get away! Being an avenger is about being a part of a team! We are supposed to do things together and the right way, not single handedly taking on a group of assassins! You could have been killed! You could have killed another one of the team somehow! If you are going to continue to do things like what you just did, then you don’t have what it takes to even be an avenger!” 

He looked at me with such a hurt look that I faltered for a moment before turning away from him and starting to pace the room. I continued yelling at him. I don’t know what I all said, but I remember saying words and phrases like, ’disgrace, and ‘disappointment’. I don’t know how long I reprimanded him, but I know it was long enough for my anger to start to fade. I was still yelling at him, but it was quieter and a bit slower. 

I stopped mid sentence when I heard the quiet shaky voice that I've tuned my ear to listen to, “M-mr. Stark, p-please stop.” 

I looked at the kid who hadn’t moved an inch on the bed. He was looking at me with his eyes wide and tears were streaming down his face. He looked so broken and hurt, that I knew that I had gone too far. He was staring at me like I had just killed his family, like I was a monster and I realized that I probably was. 

“Kid,” I said softly, but Peter was shaking his head as if trying to make what I had said disappear. 

He moved so quickly that I didn’t even see him until he was hanging out the window and looking back at me. He let out a sob and tears, which were flowing in steady streams down his face, glistened in the dusk light. He gave me one more horrified look before he launched himself out the window and into the night. 

I ran to the window, but I couldn’t see him. I know I should probably go after him, but I also know he wouldn’t want to see me. I sat down on his bed and ran a hand through my hair. I sighed and was trying to decide what to do next when I saw the notebook he was writing in, still open on his bed. I wouldn’t have even considered looking in it, except I saw my name in his messy handwriting. I picked it up and read what he had written. 

  
“So I didn’t get to write yesterday because I was busy taking on like 4 fully armed, fully grown men! Ok, I should probably explain. Basically, Mr. Stark and the others had devised this really complex plan that I didn’t really get, but I did get that they were going to let a family of 6, a mom, dad, 1 teen, 2 elementary school aged kids and a toddler just die! Just like that! That goes against everything I do the whole spiderman thing for. I tried to convince them out of it, but apparently they had their hearts set on killing an innocent family. I swung over there last afternoon and warned them and at first they were like, Whoa! Dude, you’re spiderman! And I was like, yeah dude! Eventually I got them to understand what was happening, sort of. I didn’t mention that the others were going to let them die tho, that would just be wrong, and got them to safety. I waited for the robber people to come and I was just chilling on the ceiling and when they came. I was like AHHHH and fell on them shooting tons of webs everywhere. Oh, the looks on their faces was complete terror and confusion. It was the best thing I have done since I got to fight alongside the avengers, but I’ve already written about that, this I was doing by myself and I succeeded! I trapped one of them and completely covered them up like real spiders do with their prey. I left the very relieved, but still worried family to watch over him and promised that help would be there soon. I really hope that Mr. Stark is proud of me. I practically live off of any complement he gives me. (I have a running list of them in the back) He is such a great mentor and I want to be exactly like him eventually. He’s brave and smart and I would give my entire Lego collection to spend more time working with him and learning from him. He once told me to not be as good as him, but to be better than him. But to be honest, I don’t really know if that’s possible. I really hope he approves of what I did and that he knows I couldn’t let them die. I really want-” 

  
That’s where I must have come in because it stops abruptly. I know I messed up and that I messed up big time. I hate admitting that I’m wrong, but this time it’s different. I called my suit and in exactly 47 seconds it was hovering outside the window. Jumping out the window, the suit caught me and built itself around me. Once I was in, I told Friday to scan the city for signs of Peter. I tracked his phone that I had given him for his birthday last year, to his locker at school and the trail that I was following ended. I flew over, and scanned the whole city with no luck. 

I called Pepper to ask her to check in the tower for Peter, but not to tell anyone he was missing yet. I didn’t want to make a big scene. She said she would look around and I thanked her. I went around and did a deep scan of every alley, every street, every park, and everywhere else I could think to look. I must have just missed him, I thought to myself. 

I had stopped back at his apartment to check to see if he was there and I ran into May coming home from her meeting. If she was surprised to see me the first time, she was even more surprised to see me in my full suit. I told her that I was borrowing Peter for the night and that she should go to sleep, it was late. She gave me a semi worried glance before nodding and I left. After that, I had gone through the city 2 more times, and I was starting to get more worried. Where would a 16 year old kid go to hide? How far could he run before he ran out of steam? 

I stopped back at his window 3 more times. It was 4 in the morning and I still hadn’t found him and Pepper hadn’t called back. I even stopped by a very sleepy, but ecstatic looking Ned. But when I told him Peter was missing and asked if he had seen him, he grew worried and nervous. He promised that he hadn’t seen him, but would keep an eye out for him. I sighed and after making him swear never to call me unless he found or heard from Peter, I gave him my number. I told him that if Peter wasn’t at school the next day to tell anyone who asks that he’s with me. He nodded determinedly and I left. 

I took a quick break on the roof of a factory and called Pepper. She picked up and before she even had time to say hello, I was already asking about Peter. She hadn’t seen him or heard from him. What was left of my spirits plummeted. I felt worse than I had ever felt before knowing that if anything happened to that kid, it was my fault and I would never live that down.

“Come home.” Pepper looked at me pleadingly. “Please, you have been looking all night and he’s still not here. You will have better luck in the morning, I promise.” 

I shook my head, “I have to find him. I can’t let anything happen to him.” 

She gives me a look and says, “Didn’t he scare off 3 highly trained assassins and capture one of them by himself?” I glare at her, but she just glares back and continues. “He can take care of himself Tony, for all you know, he is in Wakanda eating a pint of ice cream with Shuri.” 

I smiled and was quiet for a moment before saying quietly, “May doesn’t know he’s missing. I told her that I was borrowing him for the night.” 

Pepper gives me another small smile and says, “I can talk to her tomorrow morning if you would like me too.” 

I stare at her. “But you were up looking for Peter, I can’t let you go off with no sleep! I can do it-” “I took a nap earlier today while you were interrogating people. I’ll be fine.” 

To be honest I was relieved, but I didn’t want to wear her out, so I protested a bit before giving in. As much as I hate to admit it, she was way better with people than I was and people just seemed intimidated by me, which I don’t blame them for. I let Pepper talk me into letting her talk to May, but I couldn’t give up on Peter just like that. 

I stood back up and started searching each and every alleyway. After I had searched for hours, sweeping through the city, looking for the kid, I knew he wasn’t anywhere in the city. That meant, he had somehow gotten on a train or a bus or something and had transported himself that way. Or he had found a really good hiding spot that I didn’t know about and was hiding from me. Or he could have called his new friend Shuri like Pepper had suggested and was halfway across the world right now. 

I came back to reality to my stomach growling and I realized that it was quickly turning into day. I hadn’t eaten anything or slept in a couple of days and I was hit with a wave of exhaustion. As if on cue I got an incoming call from Pepper. I flew to a building and landed before answering. 

“May has been informed of the situation.” she said when I answered. 

I grimaced, and asked, “What did you all tell her?” I didn’t really want to know the answer, but I had to know how much of a monster May now saw me as. 

“I told her that you had come to tell off Peter for engaging in a dangerous mission that he was strictly told not to go on. You started yelling at him and may have taken things a bit too far. He ran away and we are currently looking for him.” 

I sighed and looked away from her kind face as best I could when it was hologram 4 inches from my face. “You made me sound a whole hell of a lot nicer than I actually was.” 

She gave me a small smile. “I didn’t want to worry her anymore than what was necessary.” I didn’t meet her eyes. “Please come back.” 

No. I had been calling her for too long and I needed to get back out to look for Peter. 

She must have seen it in my face because she added, “Continuing the same way you have been isn’t going to do you any good. That strategy obviously isn’t working.” 

“Really?” I snap, “I thought it was working fabulously.” She didn’t even flinch at my snappy sarcasm, one thing I really liked about her. She could put up with me. She gives me a look and I sigh. “Fine, I’ll come home, but only for 20 minutes. I need to get back out and find him. I ended the call before she could say anything else and flew back to the tower.

~~~

When I got there, I flew into the hole I made especially for that cause and went to go find Pepper. I found her in my lab with two cups of coffee in her hands. I walk over to where she is standing and she hands me one of the cups. 

“We should call the King and see if Peter is in Wakanda. If he’s not, then we can launch a full search team after questioning the other team members asking if they have seen him. But honestly, I think you should wait a little bit before doing that. You might just need to give him time to come home on his own.” 

I reach out to hug her and she seems a little surprised, but hugs me back. ”What if something happens to him and it’s all my fault?” I ask quietly. 

“It’s going to be fine,” she whispers into my ear and I hug her tighter. 

“Yeah, but what if it's not? What if he gets captured by those maniacs he fought or what if he’s swinging without his suit and someone recognizes him. What if he gets stuck somewhere where there is no one to help him and he starves.” I was talking faster now and the more I talked, the closer to hysterics I got. “Or what if he is running on a roof and falls and breaks something. Or what if he runs out of money and he’s really far away from home and so he can’t get food to eat. Or what if-'' 

I get cut short by her soft voice in my ear. “Please, don’t worry yourself sick. He is a very capable young man. He doesn’t need your loving protection every second of every day.” 

“I don’t give him my ‘loving protection.’” I grumble softly into her hair. But even as I say it I know it’s not true. I do care for the kid more than I had cared about anyone in a very long time. He was so alive and cheerful that I got happy just looking at him. I tried to hide how much I care for him under a stern look, but Pepper had seen right through me like normal. 

“Let's go see if he’s in Wakanda shall we?” She asks softly and I nod, pulling away from her. 

We called T'Challa and asked if he had seen Peter at all and after Shuri had popped into the call confirming that he wasn’t anywhere in Wakanda, I sighed. 

“How long has he been missing?” T'Challa asked and I had to stop and think about it. How long had he been gone? I mentally counted it out before answering. 

“A little over 24 hours.” 

The king gives a sympathetic and worried look. “Do you want any help finding him?” 

Before I could even think about how to answer, Pepper does it for me, “No, not right now. Let's give him time to cool down and come home. He is capable of taking care of himself. If he for some reason isn’t home in a week or two, then we could use some help.” 

T'Challa nods and agrees to help if the situation gets any worse. We end the call and I look at Pepper. “Come on,” she prompts, “Lets go ask the others.” I agree and we walk out of the lab towards the living quarters.

~~~

“Are you positive you haven’t seen him?” 

Cap shook his head and then asked like all the rest, "Do you want help finding him. We could send out a search team, and-” 

I cut him off. “I would love to, but that woman,” I point to where Pepper was questioning Wanda, “says that we need to give him time to ‘cool off’.” I sigh. “How could I have been so oblivious?” 

Cap looks at me, then Pepper, then back at me. “Do you want me to look for him quietly? I could take Sam and we could go question some of the locals asking if they saw anything. Sam knows a whole lot more people that I thought it possible to know.” 

I give him a skeptical look. Captain America and the Falcon going unnoticed was a very unlikely thing. Especially since he insisted on bringing his shield pretty much anywhere he went. 

He must have seen the worry in my eyes because he added, “I’ve gone undercover before and all Sam has to do is put on a hat and a pair of sunglasses and he’s invisible.” He sighs before adding, “And I’ll leave the shield here too.” 

I look back at Pepper and then turn to him. “Would you really do that?” 

He stares at me without blinking, the classic Captain America look, and says calmly, “You're not the only one who would do stuff for Peter. He is a major part of the team and is completely irreplaceable.” 

I stare back at him, trying to match his calm before answering. “Ok. Just don’t bring any attention to yourself and keep a low profile.” 

He stands up from where he had been sitting in the lounge. "I’ll go find Sam and we’ll leave immediately.” 

He starts to leave, but I grab his arm. “He-” I break off and pause, before gaining my composure and trying again. “He probably hates me. I said some pretty mean things and I-” I stop and look away from the unblinking gaze. “Just please make sure he’s safe.” 

Cap nods and walks out of the lounge. I watched him leave and then looked around the room. Pepper and Wanda had stepped out for something and after making sure that it was just me in the room, I dropped my head into my hands. I had been trying to figure out what all I had said to the kid that night and something the Cap said had triggered something. 

Worthless. 

I had called him _worthless_. 

He wasn’t at all by any means, but I had been so mad at him for throwing himself into a fight that he could have easily died in that I let my anger consume me. I was nobody’s hero. 

I felt someone sit down next to me and my head shot up. I look to see Pepper holding out a sandwich to me. 

“Eat something. I know you haven’t eaten in days and I won’t let you starve yourself.” I didn’t feel hungry, but I knew she was right. I had to eat something. I slowly ate the sandwich and we both just sat there for a few minutes. 

I stood up and she stood up too. “I have to keep looking for him.” 

She looked at me and asked quietly, “Are you sorry for what you said to him?” 

I didn’t hesitate at all, “Yes. I said so many things that weren’t true and I regret every single one of them. He- he means so much more to me than he thinks he does. I can't bare the thought of losing him forever.” I finish the sandwich and walk out of the lounge. I went back to where my suit was waiting for me in the lab, stepped in and flew away. 

“I’m so sorry Peter.” I whisper as I fly. “So, so sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: Hello, sorry about the formatting. I'm still working on it, but I hope this is better!


	2. Peter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony Stark had come into my room and for a brief moment I was the happiest I had been in a long time.

Tony Stark had come into my room and for a moment I was the happiest I had been in a long time.

I had just saved an entire family and had captured someone for the Avengers to interrogate, something the rest of the Avengers couldn’t do, and then Mr. Stark had shown up in my doorway and I thought for once he was going to be proud of me.

My happiness lasted for exactly one second, and quickly disappeared when I saw his face. He was absolutely furious with me and started shouting at me as soon as he walked into my room.

“What the HELL were you thinking!” I jumped and any bit of happiness left showing on my face melted off, but he didn’t stop. “Completely ruining a mission and deliberately disobeying a direct order from me! You went in there even though I said specifically not to! You don’t know anything about putting together a plan and the one you created worked slightly out of pure luck and the stupidity of panicked people!”

I was shocked and confused. I managed to squeak out, “I just thought-” But I was cut off by Mr. Stark yelling at me again, “Do you think I give a damn about what you think?! There are now 3 more maniacs out there who are going to commit more crimes because you let them get away! Being an avenger is about being a part of a team! We are supposed to do things together and the right way, not single handedly taking on a group of assassins! You could have been killed! You could have killed another one of the team somehow! If you are going to do things like what you just did, then you don’t have what it takes to even be an avenger!”

He continued to yell about how I had failed their mission and that I was a disappointment. I was so taken aback and confused that it took a few minutes for what he was saying to sink in.

He was not proud of me, he would never be proud of me. I was a complete failure.

I felt the tears start to come and I hurriedly tried to wipe them and tried to keep him from noticing which wasn’t hard because he had started pacing the small room and wasn’t looking at me. I couldn’t let Mr. Stark see me cry. Not now. Not _him_. I needed to stay strong. Superheroes weren’t weak. I could handle this.

I take a deep breath and brace myself for the rest of his speech. My resolve didn’t last long and within seconds I was back to hurriedly wiping my eyes. But suddenly I stopped abruptly and let my hand fall to my lap. He hadn’t stopped shouting at me and I didn’t catch everything he was saying, but one thing stood out more than the rest of what he was saying. He had just yelled a phrase that I knew I would carry for the rest of my life.

“You are a completely worthless asset to the team.”

I stared at him in utter horror thinking he would take back what he had said. _Hoping_ he would stop and realize what he had just yelled at me. He wasn’t facing me and I knew he still hadn’t seen my tears that were slowly starting to drip down my face, but I didn’t care anymore.

I was turning over what he had said over and over in my mind hoping with all my heart that he didn’t mean it. But when he said the word a second time I knew that he wasn’t going to take it back.

A sob escaped me and even though I tried to keep it back, the tears came anyway. I couldn't stop.

The tears were streaming down my face now, but I couldn’t look away from him. He was still yelling and the more he yelled, the more it hurt. It was like someone was shoving a knife deeper and deeper into my gut. I couldn’t keep back the sobs that were forming in my throat and so I just sat there, staring at him in horror, tears running in rivers down my face, sobbing quietly while he continued to shout.

I couldn't stand it anymore, I had to make him stop and then I had to get out.

I tried to speak, but all I got was a whimper. I tried again and this time I was able to muster a shaky sentence, “M-mr. Sta-ark, ple-please stop.”

He froze mid-step, his words immediately cut short. Slowly he turned to look at me. Tears were coming faster and I know he had seen them now.

“Kid,” He started quietly, but I shook my head. There was no taking back what he said, I knew what he thought of me.

I jumped onto the window sill, and sat there a moment, looking back. Mr. Stark was standing there, his mouth open as if he was about to speak, but nothing came from his mouth.

I turned away and leapt out the window into the night. As I fell, I activated my web shooter and swung away. My web shooters were my originals that were still on my wrists from when I had been experimenting on them earlier in the day. Even though Mr. Stark's work better, I was thankful that I was wearing mine. I was still learing new things about the new ones everyday, but I knew mine inside and out and since I was crying so hard that I couldn’t see where I was going, I could just use muscle memory with no real thought needed.

I collapsed onto a roof and just sat a moment, my body racked with sobs. It was a full minute before I realized where I was. I was on a building near my school.

I swung over to it and slipped through an open window and got inside. I went straight to my locker and threw my phone into it. Mr. Stark had given it to me, so I knew there was a tracker in it.

My sobs had slowed down now that I was doing something other than listening to Mr. Stark yell at me. I kept my web shooters because they were my own design with no tracker in them and after quickly refilling the shooters, I put my hood up and left the same way I came in and got onto the sidewalk.

I started running, not caring where I was going, I just wanted to put as much distance between me and what was behind me. I was still running when I got onto the major streets. I didn’t slow down which resulted in me running into a metric ton of people. With my enhanced strength, I plowed through people like it was nothing.

As I ran the word kept playing in my mind over and over again.

Worthless.

 _Worthless_.

 ** _Worthless_**.

I started sobbing again, even harder than I had the first time. I knew I was suposed to be strong. I was a superhero! I was supost to be unable to be hurt, to cry. But Mr. Stark's words cut into me deeper than I thought any words possible could. The tears wouldn't stop even if I wanted them to. The tears just made me run faster.

Worthless.

Worthless.

I slammed into something solid and was knocked clean off my feet, but I couldn’t see what I had run into because of the tears that clouded my vision. I jumped back up, put my head down, and was about to start running again when a hand grabbed my arm.

My head shot up and I was staring into the face of a huge police officer. When he saw my tear stained face, his expression changed from questioning and fierce to worried. My head shot back down before he could make out any lasting details of my face.

“Hey kid, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head and tried to push away without much force, but he held me fast and started talking again.

“Hey, it’s okay, I know something’s up. You knocked down like 20 people and then ran straight into a brick wall before jumping right back up like nothing was wrong.”

So that’s what the thump was.

Usually in these situations I would go help the people I knocked down or give the officer a winning smile and assure him that I was fine, maybe even crack a few jokes. Those strategies would not work in this situation. Instead I ripped my arm away from the man. He gave a very surprised grunt as the force threw him backward a good 7 feet and hit the ground with an ‘oof’.

I was running again before he could even register what had happened. I needed to get off of the streets. For one, I could hear in the distance the officer getting back up and starting after me. And two, I couldn’t see very well. That made running through crowds very difficult.

I turned into a dead end alley and bolted straight towards the 10 foot wall that led to the roofs. I heard the officer running towards the alley and I knew he saw me run in here. I jumped onto the wall, stuck to it and launched myself to the top in 2 more leaps. As on my last jump I heard the man run into the alley I had just deserted, and I hid in the shadows on the roof.

Through the tears, I saw him staring at the wall in confusion. He must have thought I had just disappeared and that was fine with me. He hadn’t seen me jump onto the roof, so I stood up silently and kept running.

I jumped clean over 7 foot gaps and didn’t slow down until I reached the train tracks. I heard a train coming and I got ready to jump onto it. I was completely worn out, but I wanted to keep moving. As the train passed, I jumped onto the roof and made my way to the caboose before collapsing in a corner and falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Irondad, more soon! Thank you for reading!


	3. Peter (Parker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter's new start at life begins

When I woke up, the train was still moving. It took me a moment to figure out what I was doing in the caboose of a moving train. Suddenly it all came flooding back to me. The mission, Mr. Stark’s visit, and the words rattling around in my brain.

Worthless.

Disappointment.

Disgrace.

I looked at my surroundings and saw that I was in the countryside. Everywhere I looked there were fields in every direction. There was the occasional farmhouse, but everything was green and brown. I found myself starting to relax, but then the words bounced to the front of my mind again. Worthless. I had failed the Avengers and they never actually cared about me, they were just being polite.

I had wanted to make Mr. Stark proud of me so bad, that I was willing to sacrifice everything. But he had never cared about me. It was all just words that had no meaning. I was a failure. I tried to choke back a sob, but it was no use, I couldn’t keep the tears from starting again and I cried myself to sleep once again.

~~~

When I woke up this time, we were nearing a town with tall buildings and I decided it was time to get off of the train. As the train raced past, I jumped off into a ditch and just laid there.

Worthless.

I knew why that word kept resurfacing in my mind. I had been called it thousands of times before by Flash Thompson in school. He thought it was the word that perfectly described me and used it as often as he could.

One day, after I tripped over my own feet in front of him, he laughed so hard he almost fell over, “Man what a worthless moron! He’s so worthless that even his feet agree that he’s worth more dead than alive!”

The entire hallway laughed with him and I broke down and ran away from him and hid in the school community garden that nobody ever went into. I felt completely worthless that day and was seriously considering running far far away forever when Ned found me and just pulled me into a hug. He assured me that I was worth more than Flash Thompson could ever be. He also reminded me that I was his best friend in the entire universe and that he needed me to stay around for him.

Hearing Mr. Stark say it was like ripping open a wound that had just started to heal. The word sounded through my head like a heartbeat. I was hearing it over and over. I needed to run. Running was the only thing that ever calmed me down when I was stressed.

I jumped up and ran towards the center of the town where there was a big area with tall buildings and when I reached them, I jumped the side of one and crawled up the side. I started running on the roofs and I quickly exhausted myself, but I didn’t stop until I saw an abandoned building. I stopped and jumped inside through a window. It wasn’t much, just an old factory building and the room I had jumped into looked like an old office, but it would serve my purpose. I fell to my knees and just sobbed into my hands. I heard his words over and over in my head.

“You are a completely worthless asset to the team. You should have never been able to work with us. You failed. Pathetic.”

I don’t know how long I sat like that, but eventually my crying slowed and I tried to calm myself down. I wiped away the tears and looked out the broken window. It was dusk and the sun was setting quickly. I wondered what day it was. I had no idea how long I spent on the train and I had spent at least a day in this building. In the back of my mind I thought about school, but it didn’t matter. School was ending in 2 weeks and I could make up whatever I missed. That’s if I actually started caring again. Nothing mattered anymore. All of my goals, all of my dreams had just been shattered. I wasn’t Spiderman and I was everything Flash had ever told me. Useless. Worthless. Moron.

I sat in the building for the entire night dozing off and on, occasionally bursting into tears once again, but by morning I had cried every tear I had in me.

I realized that I should probably eat something. I hadn’t eaten anything since the light supper I had the night that Mr. Stark had come. My stomach complained loudly and I told it that I didn’t have any food. I should figure out where I was and how I was going to feed myself for the foreseeable future. I didn’t want to go back. I was going to stay far away until I got my life under control again.

I know that I look like a disaster, so I try to straighten my hair out and to wipe off my face as best I could, but it didn’t really matter. No one was going to see me here.

I decided to go exploring a bit around the place where I had crashed. I found a bunch of useful things in the old desk drawers, the best finds were a broken comb, a medium sized piece of broken mirror, a copy of My Side Of The Mountain, a notebook, and a pen.

I spent the rest of the day exploring and finding other treasures in the old building. Apparently some of the workers used to sleep here because there were cots set up in a room just down the hall from the office. I took one of them and brought it back into the office which was where I decided to make a home-base. I found a small side table with a drawer just big enough for a book or two. I took it to keep the notebook, pen, and book in. I also brought a small table and a chair into the office.

I organized and cleaned up some of the dirt. I left the webbing that lined the room because for some reason they made me feel not so alone. It sounds ridiculous, but I guess I’m part spider, so maybe it makes sense.

After I was done it almost looked like a home. I fell asleep that night on the cot with some rat chewed blankets, my stomach growling.

~~~

The next morning I woke up to my stomach rumbling so loud I think people in Antarctica heard it. I used the comb and mirror to make myself look presentable before going out to look for food. I climbed out the window of the office and found that it conveniently led directly to the roof of the building next to it. I had no idea where I was, but I headed toward the sound of noise and found a small street market selling all sorts of things.

I started to walk down the street, occasionally stopping at something that caught my interest. I found myself drooling at a loaf of bread after stopping to look at a stand that was selling baked goods. I shook my head and kept walking. I had a 5 in my pocket but it wasn’t enough to do much with. I realized that I couldn’t stay here and that I would be forced to go back and face my problems.

But the street market was extremely colorful and full of life. Entire families were out with the moms at the fabric stalls or buying food while the children went straight to the stands selling sweets. The men were either hanging out in small groups or standing by their families. I watched the scene for a while before exploring some more.

There were tons of jewelry stands and other homemade art that people were selling and I found myself wondering if this was a special event or if this was normal. I asked the man selling the bread after deciding to go back to buy a small loaf.

He laughed and asked, “An out of towner? We don’t get very many of those this time of year.”

He had a kind voice and a deep laugh that shook his entire body. He was a plump jolly looking man in his mid 40s and I instantly took a liking to him.

“Yes, this market is open all the time, and it’s the best in town. Well, it’s the only one in town, which makes it the best.” I smiled for the first time in days and wolfed down the bread as soon as I bought it. It tasted heavenly and I sighed with happiness.

The baker laughed again before commenting on my hunger. “You ate that bread so fast I could hardly even see you eating before it was gone. Am I just that good of a baker or are you that hungry?”

I looked at him a little sheepishly, “Can I say both?” I laughed with him before talking again. “Seriously, that bread was really good! How did you get it so flaky, but light and fluffy at the same time?”

He grins at me, “A baker never reveals his secrets.”

“I’m pretty sure the saying is a chef never reveals his secrets, not a baker.”

He waves it off, “Close enough.”

I smiled and for a few minutes I forgot about what I left behind.

“So what are you doing way out here?” My smile fades immediately and my face darkens.

“Ehh, you know, the usual. Buying food and stuff.” I changed the subject quickly, “So where is here?” I still had no idea where I was.

“This is a tiny city in Southwest Illinois. The name is Woodchester.”

I didn’t recognize the name so I asked, ”How far is it from New York City?”

He looked at me with a bit of a confused look. “It’s about 950-1,000 miles, why?”

I stared at him with my mouth open. “1,000 MILES?”

He looked surprised at my shock. “Yes, approximately, why is that so surprising?” I continued to stare at him, my mind spinning. Illinois?! How long had I spent on that train?

“It’s nothing,” I managed to work out. "I just traveled by train from New York and I guess it's just a lot faurther than I thought it was." I give him a sheepish grin, "I fell asleep on the way here."

It’s his turn to look surprised. “Why were you riding the train by yourself?” I just shrug.

He gave me a skeptical look and shook his head. “I will never understand teens.” He looked me up and down. “Do you have any money?” He asked suddenly and I looked at him suspiciously.

“Why?”

“Because you are a twig and you look like you haven’t been eating properly based on how fast you ate that bread.” That was true, but I didn’t want to make him feel bad for me so I answered, “Yeah, I have money. What do you think I paid you with?”

I had exactly 3 dollars and 56 cents left after buying the bread. He looked at me. "Do you have enough money to live?”

I knew he could see right through me, but I lied anyway. “Yeah, I- I’m fine.”

The man gave me a knowing look “You are really bad at lying, do you know that?”

I sigh and look down at my feet. “Money’s a little tight right now,” I admitted. “Finding a job would be great, but I just got here so I haven’t had a chance to look for one.”

Honestly I hadn’t even thought about that until now. If I could find a job in this town I could live here for a while. The man looks me up and down once more and seems to come to a decision. “You see that pottery stand over there?” He points to a stand across the street. I look and see a small set up with pots, pans, jars, vases, and other clay made pieces. All of them were beautifully painted and had elaborate designs painted onto them. I looked back at the man.

“I see it.”

“Good, the man who runs it has been looking for an assistant for a month now. You can run over there and see if he will take you.”

“Really?!” I gasped, “Thank you!” I start to walk away when I turn back. “Wait, I never got your name.” I wanted to get to know this man better, but now was not the time, so I settled for asking his name.

“Everyone calls me Doc,” he smiled. “And I never got yours.”

I hesitated for just a second, but in that split second I made a decision. “My name’s Parker,” I turned and started walking towards the pottery stand.

~~~

When I reached it, I realized that the pieces weren’t just art, they were absolute masterpieces. I stood there just gaping at them until I was startled out of my trance by a small man coming out of a makeshift room he had separated from the outside by a piece of cloth.

“Hello, hello.” He said bustling towards me. “How can I help you?” He was thin and bony with a mop of black hair that had steaks of grey in it. He looked around late 50s and had a thick bushy mustache covering his upper lip. He came closer and I realized just how small he was. His head just barely reached my shoulder and I had to look down at him.

“Actually, I was looking for work.”

The man’s smile faded a little. “Oh, well, how much money are you demanding I pay you?” The question surprised me a little. Out of all the things he could have asked, why this?

“Well,” I thought for a moment before answering. “I’m not really demanding anything much but that would really depend on what you want me to do.”

The little man’s smile grew a little and he asked, “How so?”

I thought again before saying, “Well it’s just common sense. If I were to be doing a hard, labor intensive job, then the pay would be higher. But if you had me standing outside making sure that nobody stole anything, the pay would be lower.” I had answered as honestly as I could which is what I do as much as I could. My mind was unsatisfied by illogical answers to problems.

“And if I were to say that I would have you selling my works, managing the customers, and making sure nothing is stolen, how much would that pay?”

I thought about it. Since he said that I would be managing customers, that would raise the pay, but since there was little labor involved, it shouldn't be too much. “I think that that would add up to around 8-10 dollars an hour, seeing that I am not that old and I don’t have a college degree in business, but it does have me selling items.”

The man started jumping up and down as if he was extremely happy. “Finally!” He exclaimed, still jumping, “One with common sense!”

I didn’t know why he was so happy, but seeing him happy made me suddenly extremely happy. I quickly calculated how high the tent was and how much room I had under the tent before doing a quick back-flip.

He stopped jumping and stared at me in horror. “You could have broken something!” He yelled, making me flinch, _hard_.

“Oh no sir! I would never do that! See, I calculated how much room I had in this tent. The ceiling is definitely high enough, I had plenty of space with a half a foot to spare. On my left side I had a little under 2 and a half feet of room, I took up a foot and a half of that while using my arms to propel myself backwards. That left me with a little under a foot between me and the pots. The same on the other side only I had approximately 1 foot more space. I could go into further, more detailed measurements, but that’s the basics of it. I always make sure I have plenty of room before I do a back-flip.” I realized I was rambling and shut my mouth. I loved talking about math, but now is not the time. I saw that the little man had started smiling again and it was even bigger than last time.

“You’re hired kid,” He looked at me and seemed to realize that he didn’t know my name. “The name’s Howard. Don’t call me anything but Howard, no sir, no Howie, nothin. You got that?” I nodded before standing up straighter and giving him an army salute that Cap had taught me. Howard waved a hand at me, “No, no, no, none of that.”

“Yes Howard!” I said in a military voice. He laughed before becoming serious and I relaxed my shoulders.

“Now, I will pay you 8 dollars an hour in cash for doing exactly what I told you, you would be doing. You will work 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week. The shop is closed on Sundays and Mondays. Saturdays you will be working 3-5 hours depending on how busy it is. You got that?” I nodded and he continued. “How long are you planning on working for me?”

I had to stop and think about it. I didn’t want to give him a dishonest answer, but I didn’t have an honest one to give him because I didn’t know. So I gave him the best answer I could, “I have no idea, a little while at least.”

He nodded like this was completely normal before continuing. “All right, if you want I can have you working starting tomorrow.” I nodded enthusiastically and he smiled.

“Eager I see, well it’s good to have someone who wants to work.” I nod before realizing something,

“Er, Howard? Is there any paperwork that I have to fill out or anything?”

He waved his hand dismissively, “Nah, I don’t do that type of thing, it’s too much work. You show up and I’ll pay you.”

There was still one thing I didn’t understand. “But M- um, Howard, why are you so trusting? You have never met me before and you don’t even know my name. Isn’t that a good way to get your works stolen?”

He grins at me, “That right there my friend is why I chose you. You think and ask questions. I deem you are smart and trustworthy. Those questions I asked you at the very beginning was a test. Common sense is the most important feature of a good person. But, er, what is your name?”

I realized that under the smile and the bounce, this man was wise in an odd way and what he was saying made sense. “My name’s Parker” He looked at me, “No last name?” He gave me a questioning look and I shook my head. “Just Parker.”

He nodded and shrugged and I asked one last question before leaving, “What time do you want me tomorrow?” “I want you in this tent no later than 3.” I grinned at him before saluting and running off to tell Doc that I got the job.

~~~

“That’s great Parker!” He said when I told him. "Howard’s picky, but it looks like he took a liking to you." I nodded and he handed me a small paper bag. “Here you go, take it. I won’t take no for an answer.”

I hesitantly took the bag out of his hand and opened it. The smell of sausage wafted out and my mouth started watering immediately. I looked in and counted 3 small sausages, another small loaf of bread, and a plastic water bottle. I took out the first sausage and the bread and wolfed them down along with half of the water from the bottle. I took another one out, but this time, I ate it slowly, savoring every bite. I sighed with contentment and Doc smiled. “I couldn’t let you go home hungry could I?”

I thanked him 5 times over and told him not to buy me anything again. I had a job now and could take care of myself. Doc just smiled at me before turning away and beginning to pack up the stand for the night. I realized it was getting late, so I promised Doc I would be back tomorrow before heading off to my makeshift home. I ate the third sausage on the way along with the rest of the water and disposed of the water bottle in a nearby trash can.

I found an alley, much like the one the police officer had followed me into with the dead end wall going up to the roof which would eventually become my normal way back and forth between home-base and the market. Once I got back into my room, I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep instantly, the taste of Doc's bread still in my mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the formatting, I'm working on it


	4. Tony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s been two weeks and Peter still hasn’t come home. I was on the edge of hysterics and the only thing holding me together at this point was the fact that I hadn’t gotten my nightly update from the Cap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry it's been a while, but here you go!

It’s been two weeks and Peter still hasn’t come home. 

I was on the edge of hysterics and the only thing holding me together at this point was the fact that I hadn’t gotten my nightly update from the Cap. 

For the past 12 nights he has called me at exactly 8 pm to tell me where they had been and what they had found, which so far was nothing. It was 8:46 and Cap hadn’t called me yet. 

I paced my lab, trying to come up with every scenario possible to why he was late. Maybe he had found out where the kid went, or at least found a clue to where he was. 8:47. 

Ahhhhhh! Where was he? Maybe he was attacked by the maniacs that we still hadn’t caught or maybe he had forgotten about me. He probably got distracted and wasn’t going to call me. 

I sighed and looked at the time again. 8:48. 

I sighed yet again and slumped against the wall. 

I hadn’t slept more than an hour in 5 days and I had only eaten when Pepper forced me too. I was exhausted, but that wasn’t going to stop me from worrying. I knew I was definitely overreacting, but Peter had become a very important part of my life without me even realizing it. When he was around, he brought with him a cloud of joy and happiness. I had taken it upon myself to keep him safe at all costs, and I had failed. 

I was about to lose it when I heard my phone start buzzing with an incoming call. 

I jerked up and answered it immediately. 

Cap’s face was projected onto the screen in front of me and I saw that he was faintly smiling. 

“What happened?!” I demanded. 

“We found something.” 

I didn’t know what my emotions were doing because part of me wanted to jump up and down, happy that something finally happened and the other part of me wanted to strangle him for not telling me faster. 

“What? What did you find?” 

“We were looking on the east side of the city asking some friends of Sam if they had heard anything. Apparently one of them was walking down the sidewalk, ‘minding her own business’ when someone barreled past her with such a huge amount of force that it knocked her off her feet. When she regained her composure, she saw that people behind her and in front of her were getting up off the ground after also being knocked over. There was a small crowd of people gathering around something and she went to go investigate. She saw a huge police officer holding the arm of a teenage boy who had the hood of his red hoodie pulled up and had his head facing the ground.” 

I gasped quietly and he continued, “The boy looked like he was trying to push the officer away, but he held onto the boy and started asking him questions. The boy shook his head and after trying to pull away one last time, he yanked his arm away so fast and with so much strength that the officer flew backwards. Before anyone could do anything but gasp, the teen had started running again. The officer got up off the ground and started running after him. Just before the teen disappeared from sight, he ducked into an alley, the police officer behind him. A minute later the officer came out of the alley alone and looked confused. He saw that they were still standing there and told them all to leave.” 

Cap paused for a moment before continuing. “Sam and I thought that it sounded suspicious and we went to the local police station to check it out. I didn’t go in because I am too easily recognized and I have a, um, not so good record with the police right now.” 

He stopped and looked a little sheepish. What had he done to upset the police? I put it to the back of my mind. I had more important things to worry about. I would ask him about it later. 

It took me a second to realize that he was talking again, “Sam did go in and I’ll let him finish the report.” 

He moved off the screen and the Falcon came into view. I hadn’t associated with him much and I kept my distance most of the time. 

He started talking, “So after I went inside, I went to the front desk and asked if I could speak to the officer that had dealt with the teenage boy who had caused a bit of a mess in the street about two weeks ago. They said that they did know what I was talkin’ about, so I explained it in more detail. It took a while, but eventually I figured out that the guy hadn’t told anyone else about his run-in with the teen. After a lot of confusion and askin’ around some more, they finally found me the guy we were lookin’ for. He gave roughly the same story, but he added that he had seen the kid run smack into a brick wall and then jump right back up as if unharmed. He also saw the kid’s face briefly, but all he noticed was that he was crying. He said that when the kid ran into the alley, it was like he had just disappeared. The teen had been running away from him and had apparently been really fast, but he saw him duck into the dead end alley. When the officer got there though, there was no sign of the kid anywhere.” 

He stopped and Cap came back into the frame. “If that’s not Peter then I don’t know what is. We are going to look into it more tomorrow.” 

I looked at them both gratefully, “Thanks guys, I really appreciate it-” I stopped sighed. Cap smiled softly, “Don’t worry about it, we care about him too.” The call ended and I slumped to the floor, pulled my knees to my chest, and rested my head on them. 

The last thing anyone has seen of my kid was him crying and running away from police officers. I wish I could tell him how sorry I was. I had made him run away and he probably hates me. 

Wait, my kid? I hadn’t even realized that I had called him my kid. That just made it hurt more. 

I try to seem put together all the time, but I knew I wasn’t. This is the thing that finally made something in me snap. 

I shook my head and tried to clear my head. I had to focus all of my attention on finding Peter. But I stayed where I was and didn't move. 

~~~ 

I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to the sound of someone sitting down next to me. 

I jerked up, but I realized it was only Pepper and I relaxed again. She held out a sandwich and I ate it as she started to talk to me. “T'Challa called asking if we had found Peter yet. Apparently Shuri is anxious to start looking.” 

I sighed and gave her an update of what the Cap told me. I had long since told her that Cap and Sam were out looking undercover, sort of, for him. 

She nodded at the news, “I’ll tell T'Challa to start there, I told him to send out just a few small undercover ships because we didn’t want to scare any of the civilians.” She also gives me a look before saying, “May called again asking if we had found anything yet.” 

I put my head back on my knees and she gave me a quick hug before standing up to go do the things that I’m not strong enough to do myself. 

I look at my watch and realize that it’s 9 am. I had slept through the whole night. I sighed and stood up before walking over to my suit and stepped inside. 

I flew out of the tower to continue searching. I had flown a little farther every day and so far I have had no luck whatsoever. 

But there was no way I was going to give up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it:) I hope the formatting is better this time!


	5. Peter (Parker)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter (Parker) has been in Woodchester for around three weeks and is settling into his new lifestyle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, hope you enjoy this :D You finally get to meet my favorite OC! I hope you like her as much as I do!

I walked away from my 18th day at work. As usual, I walked over to Doc’s stand to ask him what to buy today.

I had been in Woodchester for almost 3 weeks and had been away from home for a month, but it felt like I had been there forever. I had already bought a big plastic water bottle, a bar of soap, a nice new shirt, and a nice pair of pants. I ran up to a smiling Doc and gave him a hug. This was something I had started after accidentally hugging him from pure joy of being in the market. He had laughed and now it was tradition for me to run up and hug him after I got done with work. I pulled away with a grin and I held up my money that I had earned today.

“Hey Parker.”

I had gotten much more used to being called Parker and it was completely normal now. After being called it for almost 3 weeks I had even started calling myself Parker in my self given pep talks.

“Today I will have enough to buy that pair of shoes I have been wanting!”

I had worked out a system. Everything here was way cheaper than things in New York City. I used half of my daily pay check to buy supper and breakfast for the next day. I skipped lunch, but it didn’t really matter because I never ate much for lunch anyways. The rest of the money gets put in savings to buy things off the list I had made when I had first come here. I also had some back up savings for any extra money I got in case I ever needed it.

I had found an office building of some sort and it was one of the few buildings that wasn’t abandoned in the area. It had a working bathroom that was immediately to the left when you walked in and most of the time, I could quickly come and go without anyone even noticing. I used it often, mainly because it was close and had running water. The sink was too small to wash anything but my hands in, but that didn’t matter. After I had bought the bar of soap from my list, I went searching for a place in the river where I could take a bath. I had found a spot about a half a mile away from homebase, or HB as I called it.

The place I found was a deep spot in the river where a bunch of bushes block the view from both directions. I quickly hid in the brush and I washed myself for the first time in a long time. The water was full of algae and other water plants, but it was clean enough. I had also washed clothes in the water with the bar of soap. I walked away from the river in wet clothes, but I was clean and happy.

Now, I almost had enough for a second pair of tennis shoes. My old ones, which were already on the verge of falling apart, were almost completely garbage after all this walking. Life was going pretty well. Howard liked me and I liked working for him. He was kind and had a fabulous sense of humor. Doc kept insisting that I let him buy me things, but I refused him every time saying that I could take care of myself and that him being my friend was good enough for me. But he knew I had a weak spot for his bread and every so often I would give in and let him give me a small loaf. It was Thursday and if my calculations were correct, by the end of the day, I would have the new shoes. I smiled just thinking about it.

I left Doc for my quick daily food run. I bought a small bag of apples that I knew would last a few days. I also bought a sausage, a small wedge of cheese, and a carrot before going back to buy a small loaf of bread from Doc. I sat down in the back by him where he had started letting me sit a few days ago, and munched on the carrot. He stood up to help a customer and by the time he had come back, I had leaned back against the old building that the stand was in front of and had my eyes closed.

I heard him sit down and without opening my eyes I asked, “Doc, can you tell me the story about the town’s history?”

“Goodness Parker! You’ve heard the story twice before! Don’t you want to hear something else?”

I opened one eye and looked at him. “I know you love telling it, and it’s a good story. Come on, please?” I opened my other eye and gave him my best puppy eyes.

He laughed, “All right, all right. It started in 1820 with my great great great great grandfather,” He counted out the greats on his fingers as he talked, ”his wife, and a large group of friends and colleagues came on a train to the countryside, away from the growing city. They wanted to start their own town and they had acquired a grand piece of land and even though it was technically against the laws of the newly formed state, they started building buildings to live in and taller buildings to start their businesses along main street. The problem was, they didn’t have the proper materials to create buildings as tall as they were making them and the newly made building soon became unsafe for the growing numbers of people coming who came seeking an adventure. As time went on, they knew that they had to abandon the main street and build better houses before they did anything else. People started businesses from home and trade was common in the ‘adventure town’ as it was known as at that time. I don’t really know how, but they got a town started. More people started coming, making the economy grow. A new main street was made and the town started paying less and less attention to the original one. After a certain amount of time, people started setting up tents around the ghosted main street, my great grandfather being one of them. If a person claimed a spot, it was theirs and people respected that. As it grew in popularity, it drew more people. A fully equipped town emerged out out of nothing and even though new businesses and chains were being put in, the market stayed and it had just as many people coming to it as ever. Occasionally a person comes in with big dreams of fixing up the old buildings, but at this point most of them are over 100 years old and even though they are sturdy enough not to fall over, they aren’t safe enough to be in all the time.”

That part had made me nervous the first time I had heard, so I had asked him to elaborate on what he meant.

“Well,” he had said, “Some of the buildings are more sturdy than others and some of them a bit further out were made more recently and just abandoned from lack of workers or the company went bankrupt or there was simply no business. Basically, if the floor doesn’t break the first time you step foot in it then it’s probably safe.”

I had taken time that night to check just how secure HB was. I had come to the conclusion that it hadn’t been abandoned because it was dangerous. After that I felt better about the place I was staying.

I sighed with contentment as Doc stood up to help another customer. I watched as a young woman bought a big loaf of bread while a little boy ran around her legs holding an action figure and making it fly. I saw her escort him along with her as she headed in the direction of the other foods. I was hit with a wave of sadness as I remembered Aunt May. She was probably worried sick about me and here I was relaxing happily. I needed to put my plan into action.

“Hey Doc?” I asked thinking about how I would go about this.

“What’s up Parker?” He had sat back down in his chair and looked at me.

“When I first came here, I asked about a post office. I was wondering if that is the only one around here or if there is another one a bit further out.” I tried to sound as nonchalant as I could, but I could tell that he was suspicious.

“There is a post office about 25 miles away from the next town over, but it’s more convenient to use the one in town.”

I sighed and he gave me a strange look. “I think it’s about time that you tell me where you’re from."

“I told you, my parents died when I was young and I was raised by my aunt.” I looked away from him.

“I want to know why you want to send a letter from a different town and why you showed up here with no money and a very odd story. Please, I just want to help.”

I looked back at him and sighed. I didn’t really want to tell him, but I knew I owed him for all of the kindness he had shown me over the past few weeks. “I want to send two letters actually. One to my aunt and one to my best friend. I want to send it from a different post office than the one in town because I don’t want anyone to be able to find me based off of where the letters were sent from. And before you even ask, no, I’m not a wanted criminal, I just ran away.”

His eyebrows shot up, but I didn’t give him a chance to say anything before I was talking again.

“I didn’t run away from my aunt, I love her and I miss her a lot. The reason I ran was because there was a person who I looked up to a lot. He was my role model and I wanted to be exactly like him eventually. He was like a father figure to me. He was my hero. I tried my absolute hardest to be noticed by him and all I really wanted was for him to be proud of me. The past few months, I had been spending more time with him and I thought that he had finally started to see me as something other than a lost puppy that needed taking care of. But one night I messed up and deliberately disobeyed him and did something dangerous in an attempt to make him proud of me and I succeeded in what I was trying to do! But late the next day, he showed up at my house and started yelling at me.”

I clenched my fists and realized that I was mad. No, I was beyond mad. He had made a complete fool out of me by raising my hopes only to crush them. I forced myself to take a breath and continued.

“He basically told me that I was a worthless failure and that I would never be good enough to work with him.” That was the first time I had said it out loud to someone since it happened but it didn’t make me feel better, but I was furious with Stark. “Even though I tried so hard to keep the tears in that night, I failed. I started crying in front of the person who used to be my hero. The worst part was, He didn’t even notice.”

I sighed and avoided looking at Doc who hadn’t said anything since I started talking. “He was pacing the room and wasn’t looking at me. The more he yelled insults at me, the more tears came. I managed to tell him to stop and before he could say anything else, I ran away. I jumped on the back of a train and fell asleep. When I woke up I jumped off here. I haven’t been back since.”

I glanced at Doc and saw his eyes widen and he nodded silently. I kept talking, “I don’t want pity. That’s the absolute last thing I want right now. I just want to tell the people I love that I’m okay, but I’m not ready to go back yet. I am managing fine on my own, with your help I suppose. I never would have found a job and I wouldn’t be happy here if you hadn’t been willing to be my friend. But don’t even think about trying to convince me to go home. The only reason I told you the story is because I owed it to you. Please don’t tell anyone else. I don’t really want to deal with the poor kicked puppy looks I get all the time right now.”

I stopped and looked at the street. “It looks like you have a customer.”

He stood up and went to help them and I grabbed the rest of the food I didn’t eat and slipped away, not wanting to hear his response to my story. When I got back to HB, I started writing my letter to May.

It went something like this:

“Hey Aunt May, I just wanted to tell you that I am okay and that I’m doing well. I’m sorry I ran away like that, I should have gone to you first, but I was just so upset with myself and with Mr. Stark. I’m sure you heard about what happened. I am sorry to tell you that I’m not going to be coming home for awhile. I’m sorry, I need time. I don't want to face him right now. I’m eating well and thinking of you a lot. I miss you so much and I wish I could see you without having to see anybody else. I’m asking you not to tell anybody that I’m sending you this. Ned already knows I’m alright, so you don’t have to worry about telling him. Not that anybody else would really care, but Stark likes to poke his nose around in other people’s business, so it’s quite likely that he will read this eventually. If he does find out that you have this letter, tell him not to worry, I’ll make sure to stay far away from him and his team. They won’t have to worry about the ‘little kid’ anymore. Sorry, all I really wanted to say was that I’m alright. Please don’t worry about me (even though I know you will anyways.) I love you more than anything, Peter.”

I read it over twice more before putting it off to the side and grabbing another sheet of paper from the notebook. I wrote another letter, this time to Ned:

“Hey man, it’s Peter. I just wanted to tell you that I was okay. I know you worry yourself to death a lot and I don’t want you to die, so I’m sending you this letter. I assume that you weren’t told much about what happened, so I’ll tell you. Basically I completed a dangerous mission by myself, but apparently Mr. Stark didn’t like what I did. He said some really hurtful things and I ran away from him. I have no idea when I’ll be back, but I just wanted you to know that I’m fine. I’ll tell you everything when I come home. Please don’t tell anyone else that I wrote this to you. I know that you will really want to, but I am begging you not to. I will come home when I’m ready to. Don’t worry about May, she knows. Please. If you do show this to anyone, I will tell your mother about the black bear incident. :) Don’t get a new best friend while I’m gone. I miss you a lot, Peter.”

I read it over again and finally, satisfied, I went to sleep.

I dreamed that Doc was mad at me for some reason and Howard fired me. Aunt May was furious with me for running, and Ned turned his back on me, declaring that he was never my friend. They kept shouting worthless, worthless, worthless, and I was all alone. I couldn't trust anyone...

I woke up in a cold sweat and sat up in the first light of morning. I decided that it was time to find envelopes.

After getting ready for the day, I grabbed an apple and jumped out the window and started looking for a post office.

I went to the market and stood in the shadows trying to figure out which way was east. It was the direction the sun rose from, so I turned and headed that way. I decided to run because I hadn’t done nearly enough running lately and I wanted to get there fast. After running for a few minutes, I slowed down to a walk and ate some food. I had brought my breakfast and some money with me.

As I walked, I looked for someone to ask about the post office. It was still early and people were just starting to trickle out of their homes. I stopped a lady and asked her where the post office was. She gave me directions and I was there in the next 5 minutes. I walked in and almost instantly found what I was looking for. Stacks of envelopes and stamps were piled everywhere and in every color imaginable.

I grabbed 2 plain white envelopes and 2 stamps that had a picture of the white house on them. The total came out as $0.94. I paid it and after thanking the person on the other side of the counter, I ran home.

Once I got to HB, I put the letters in the envelopes and wrote out their names and addresses. I put May’s name as May P. in case Doc questioned her last name. Now all I had to do was ask him to mail them for me. If he wouldn’t drive out there for me, then I would have to settle for the one closer to home. I knew that Mr. Stark had ways of getting his way, mainly because he’s a billionaire and has a very intimidating stare. I knew that if he wanted to, he would find me.

I shook my head to clear my mind. I didn’t like thinking about him. It brought too many memories. I grabbed the sealed envelopes, the money I was going to buy the pants with, and headed out the window to the market. I went to Doc’s stand and waited, leaning against a building, while he finished helping a customer.

“Hey Parker!” He called out grinning at me. “Whatcha got there?” He nodded towards the envelopes.

“Hey Doc, I was just wondering if you would be willing to mail these letters for me. I was kind of hoping that you would be able to take them to the one in the next town over.” I gave him my biggest smile and looked at him with pleading eyes that I knew he couldn’t resist. Being considered young and cute has its advantages.

He smiled back at me, “Of course I can take it, I’m heading into that part of town tomorrow anyways. I’ll take it along.” He didn’t mention anything about what I had told him yesterday and I was grateful. I ran up to him and gave him a hug before asking what time it was. He told me it was almost 3 and so after giving him the letters, I went over to Howard’s stand. had started to get really good at bargaining. I had never had a reason to practice before and I now realize that it’s a good skill to have. I walked over to the tent that was providing shade for Howard and his pottery.

The tent was a classic 10 x 15 foot white, shade tent. Unlike Doc’s tent, which was set up the long way facing the street, Howard’s tent was set up so the shorter side was facing the street. The extra 5 feet stuck into an alley so that it wouldn’t hang out into the street. There were white plastic tables set up on both sides of the part that wasn’t in the alley. The blanket that was hung from the ceiling to give Howard some private space to do his pottery cut off the extra 5 feet, making the place where the customers walked around in, a square. There was tons of pottery hanging from the ceiling and bookshelves were scattered everywhere. In the back, there was a small table against the blanket that had the locked cash box and the credit card machine thing. I still didn’t know what it was called, but it was really useful.

I walked into the back and found Howard finishing his latest masterpiece. “Lookin good Howard!” I walked over to him as he looked up.

“It’s not really my best piece ever, the paint is a little off and the sides aren’t completely smooth and-”

I cut him off. “It looks fabulous! I still don't know how you can pull something so beautiful out of a blob of clay.”

It was a small model of an orange and black striped cat. I leaned over and cocked my head to get a better look at it. The paint job was extremely elaborate and when I looked closer, I could see the individual strands of fur painted onto it.

“This is amazing! The fur looks so real, it doesn’t even look painted! I feel like I could pet it and it would be soft! I wish I could pet it! Is the paint dry? I want to pet it”

I looked into the mustached face and saw that he was grinning at me. “Well if you insist that it’s good, I suppose I’ll sell it.”

I gaped at him, “You _suppose_? Of course you are going to sell this! It’s an absolute masterpiece, it will sell for a ton of money! I could point out each individual piece of fur to bribe a higher price on it.”

I was grinning just thinking about all the different ways I could sell it. I looked back at the adorable little tiger and suddenly I really wanted to hug a real cat or a dog. When I walked through the streets of NYC, I would stop to pet every single dog I could. I was a complete sucker for animals, but I hadn’t seen very many in Woodchester.

I stood up straight, “Anyway, I should go make sure people don’t steal your stuff.” I walked out and sat down in the chair by the cash box that Howard had set up for me last week.

It was Friday, so the afternoon hours were usually busy. I sat there for about five minutes before a woman came in to buy a vase painted with peacock feathers on it. The paint job was so well done that it looked like Howard had taken a picture of a peacock and had printed it out onto the vase. As the woman left, Emily ran into the tent.

Emily was a small bouncy six year old with a head of blond curls. Her smile could melt even the coldest heart and she was incredibly smart. Like smarter than any six year old I had ever met and a lot smarter than a lot of teenagers and adults I have met.

There was an extremely detailed, small light blue bowl that had little pixies painted onto the sides that she really really wanted. It had been sitting on the table since the first day I had been there. Every day, without fail she had come to make sure it was still there every day while she saved up her allowance. Howard told me that Emily had seen it the very first day it was put out, about a week before Howard had hired me. She had run up to him and had asked him how much it was. He told her that it was $20 and ever since then she had been saving every bit of money she got in order to buy it. It had been over a month since she first started saving and she was still at it.

It was actually a very popular bowl and without her knowing, I had turned down 8 different people who wanted to buy it, saying that it was reserved for someone else.

She bounced in, waving an old peanut butter jar in the air while yelling, “Mr. Parker, Mr. Parker! I have enough! I can buy the fairy bowl today! I did it! I did it!”

She ran over to the small bowl and picked it up with such care that it made my heart melt a little. She was so happy that she could finally buy what she had been dreaming about for a month. She walked carefully over to me and handed me the jar. I took it from her with a smile.

“Miss Emily, you are now the proud owner of the fairy bowl.” I said it like a sports announcer and she giggled. Even as intelligent as she is, I was really surprised by her dedication to saving. Most 6 year olds I had met, have had a very, very short attention span. Emily was the most dedicated little girl I had ever met. I set the jar down on the table and sat back down in my chair.

Emily gave me a confused look, “Aren't you going to count it?" I smiled and stood back up. "But I know it's already all there. There's no way you would bring it in without having enough."

She smiled, "Can you count it anyways?"

"Of course I can." I poured the continents of the jar out on the table. It was mostly coins with a few dollar bills thrown in. I started counting it, “All right, we have 1, 2, 3,” She watched anxiously as I counted out loud. “And 20!” It’s all here! The fairy bowl is yours.”

She jumped up and hugged me tight before sitting on the ground to admire her new bowl. She had told me everything she was going to use it for in the past few weeks. It was going to be a doll bath tub, a paperclip holder, a jewelry holder, a hideout for secret missions, etc. Lets just say she has a lot of different interests. She looked up at me.

“Mr. Parker, can you tell me a story?” She gave me the puppy eyes that I often used on people myself and I laughed.

“All right, any one in particular?”

She loved all of my stories. And often asked for the one about when Ned and I were flying a remote controlled airplane and it had crash landed in Mrs. Lanester’s prize petunias. She seemed to find old Mrs. L chasing us out of her yard with a broom hilarious.

“I want a new story, you haven’t told me a new story since,” Her face scrunched up in concentration as she thought about it.

“I told you a new story yesterday remember?” She lights up, “Oh yeah! Well, I want another new story.”

I laughed again, “So demanding. All right, but you just have to remember that if another customer comes, I have to stop to help them.”

“I know!” she singsonged and I started thinking about one to tell her. I had plenty of crazy things happen to me before, but most of them had happened while I was Spiderman, so I couldn’t exactly tell them to her.

“All right, have I told you about the time Ned and I accidentally broke a carousel?” She giggled and shook her head. I launched into my story, having to stop twice to sell items to customers. Before I knew it, Howard was coming out of his workspace.

“Hi Mr. Howard!” Emily waved at him from the spot on the floor where she was sitting. “I had enough to buy my bowl today!” She shows him her purchase and he smiles at her.

“Good job! I knew you could do it. But now I am here to ask you to leave, it’s time for Parker and I to close up.”

She nodded and stood up, “Bye Mr. Howard! Bye Mr. Parker!” and she skipped out onto the street. When she was out of ear shot I turned to Howard who was shaking his head.

“How many times do I have to tell her that it’s just Howard?”

“Well she calls me ‘Mr. Parker’. The only people who ever do that are teachers who are annoyed with me.”

Howard grins at me, “That kid is something else. Never in all my years have I seen someone as smart as her, so young. She earned that bowl.” He handed me my money for the day and I grinned at him. “Now scidattle, I have places to be.”

I thanked him and ran off to go buy my new pair of shoes. After I bought them, I instantly put them on, discarded my old ones in a nearby dumpster, and ran over to where Doc was and showed off my purchase. I felt a little bit like Emiy showing off her bowl, but I liked Emily so I let myself copy her. He grinned down at me and told me to go buy food before stands started to close. I went off to buy my supper enjoying every step I took in my new shoes.

I sat in my usual spot behind Doc’s stand to eat. I was slowly but surely buying the things off of my list.

“Well,” Doc sat down in his chair and looked at me. “Now that you have your shoes, what’s next?” I had already gotten most of the things on the list. I knew it was time to start taking better care of myself.

“Personal hygiene products. I have covered the basics and I know that I’m not going to starve, so I’m going to stop being disgusting all the time.” I washed myself and my clothes about every other day or so, but I had no toothbrush or toothpaste. I washed my hands everyday, but I haven't brushed my teeth or properly washed my face daily in weeks. They shouldn’t be too expensive to buy, they just weren't top priority to get.”

Doc just nods, “If you need a place to buy them, then I would go to a stand on the next street. It’s a bright red tent and has every travel product you could possibly think of. They have personal products there.”

I told him I would check it out and stood up to leave. “Thank you, see you tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow Parker.”

I walked towards the place that Doc had told me about. It was way easier than I thought it would be to find considering it was the only red tent on the entire street. I made my way over to it. When I reached it and ducked inside, I realized that Doc hadn’t been exaggerating about them having every travel item anyone could possibly be. I skipped all of the backpacks and suitcases and went over to the section of little travel sized toiletries. I found a small tube of toothpaste, a toothbrush, a tiny bottle of shampoo, the smallest thing of deodorant I had ever seen, and a ton of other stuff. I started making a mental list.

“Can I help you?” The voice made me jump and spin around. I blame the spider bite for my way too fast reflexes. I turned so fast that I made the little old lady standing next to me jump.

“Sorry,” I apologized and then grinned. “No, I was just making a mental list of everything I need to buy.”

The lady looked a little surprised and then asked if I needed a piece of paper.

“Yes actually, that would be great! Thank you!” She went over to a desk and opened a drawer and pulled out a little pad of paper and a pencil. She walked back over to me and handed them to me. I thanked her again and turned back to the shelf.

I made a list of what the item was and how much it was next to it. The finished list looked like this: toothbrush, 0.99; toothpaste, 1.15; deodorant, 1.00; shampoo bottle, 1.09; conditioner, 1.09; face wash, 2.16. With tax added, the total would come to $7.78. I was absolutely thrilled. In NYC I wouldn’t have been able to buy half of what I was buying for that much! I could get all of these things on Tuesday!

I had to save all of my Saturday's income to pay for food for Saturday, Sunday and sometimes Monday because I didn’t work Sundays and Mondays. But on Tuesday I would get a full pay and I could afford to buy all of this. I got paid $24 a day. $12 went to buying food for the day and the other $12 goes into buying necessities. I could put the extra 3 dollars into savings to finish the second set of clothes. I had to buy another pair of socks, another jacket, ect. I realized it was getting late, so I thanked the lady and told her I would most likely be back on Tuesday.

I went back to HB, put the list in the table drawer, and fell asleep satisfied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, it's so long, but there wasn't really a good stopping place. Stay safe everyone!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please no negative comments, always be supportive of your fellow nerds! More to come!


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